Dunklin Street improvements to begin soon

Work that had been delayed on a Jefferson City/Cole County capital improvement project may be moving forward soon.
by Jeff Haldiman
Aug. 21 2019 @ 12:05am

Work that had been delayed on a Jefferson City/Cole County capital improvement project may be moving forward soon.

Jefferson City Engineer David Bange told the Cole County Commission on Tuesday that work in the 400 block of Dunklin Street could start next week.

It's part of a $2.6 million project to replace a bridge; add bike lanes, a sidewalk and greenway; and improve the stormwater and sanitary sewer system on Dunklin Street.

The area is near M&M Transmission and McKnight Tire, where stormwater work has been put on hold because of high water levels on Wears Creek. Bange said they believe the water levels should allow them to start the process of installing stormwater pipe by next week.

If they can do this, Bange said they could get back on schedule to have the whole project done by the planned completion date of Nov. 27.

Another project Bange said is progressing is a rail spur at Morris Packaging in the Algoa area. The county and city are each paying $225,000 for the work, and Morris Packaging is paying $79,800. The spur will run from Command Web across Militia Drive and continue along the south side of Morris Packaging and Alpla.

While doing this work, it was found that ties under the crossing on Militia Drive are rotting, Bange said. Commissioners agreed to get a cost estimate for the best and longest-lasting material to replace the ties.

There will also be an agreement between the county and city on paying for future maintenance at the crossing. The county had been picking up the cost in the past.

The improvement work could be done in another few weeks.

Bange told commissioners plans are moving forward on improvements to East High Street.

The city plans to bid out the work in October, he said. The improvements on East High Street will go between Cherry Street and Vetter Lane and include curb, gutter and sidewalk repairs; street overlay; and retaining wall and stormwater inlet improvements.

The estimated price tag is $1.7 million. Each entity would pay $850,000 for the project.

One other project Bange mentioned is a roundabout for the intersection of Clark Avenue and Dunklin Street. The Jefferson City Council approved a $152,556 engineering contract with Bartlett & West earlier this year to design the roundabout.

Construction of the roundabout is estimated to cost approximately $1.7 million and would begin in 2022.

The city and county are using their combined capital improvement sales tax funds to complete these projects.